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the wilmington gazette published very tuesday by allmand hall at three do&rrj a yetf payable in ftdvawe or four dollar if not paid within ft yeat and myself should attend the court in rich mond with the letter of gen wilkinson the answer to that letter and the orders f the departments of war and the navy therein ge nerally described no answer to general wilkinson's letter other than a mere ac knowledgment of it receipt in a letter writ teu for a ditferent purpose was ever written by myself or any other to these control nicationt of papers i will add that if the d femlant supposes there Â» re any fact within the knowledge of the heads of deptrtfflentl or of myself which can be useful for his de fence from a desire of doing any thing our situation will permit in furtherance of justice we shall be ready ogive him the benefit old by way of debamtiont through ay pertom whom tie court shall authorise to take o lestinaony at this place i know indeed mr hay that tbis cannot be done butlty consent of parties and t therefore authorise you to tfive consent on thepartoftheuniteid slates mr burr's consent wii be glvtn of course if he supposes the testimony useful as to our personal attendance at richmond i am persuaded the court is sensible that pa ramount duties to the national urge controul the obligation of compliance with their sum mons in tlm case a they would should we receive a similar one to attend the trials of blann'erhasiet and others in the mississippi territory those instituted at st louis and other places on the western waters or st a ny place other than the seat of government to comply witb such catls would leave the nation without an executive branch whbse agency nevertheless is understood to be so constantly necessary that it is the sole'btanch which the constitution require to be always in function it could not then mean that it should be withdrawn from its station by any co-ordinate authority with respect to pa pers there i certainly a public an private side to our officers to the former belong grants of land patents for inventions cer tain commission proclamations snd bthcr papers patent in their nature to the other belong mere executive proceedings all na lions have found it necestsry thai for the advantageous conduct of their affairs some of these proceedings at least should remain known to their executive functionary only heofeourie from the nature of th case mult be the sots ndg of which of them b puhlic interest will permit publication hence under our constitution in requests of papers fiom the legislative to the execu live branch an exception is carefull express ed as to those which he may deem the public welfare may require not to be disclosed aa jrau wili see in the incloted resolution of the house of representatives which produced the message of jan 22 ; respecting this case the respect mutually due between the con stituted authorities in their official inter course a well a sincere disposition to do fnr every one what i just will al way ensure from the executive in exercising the duty of discrimination confided to him the same can dor and integrity to which the nation has in â– like manner trusted in the disposal of its ju j diciary authorities considering you as the organ for communicating these teniimtnls to the court i address them to you for that purpose and salute you with esteem and respect . jeffersonj " war depmrtmem dec 20 1809 m sir " there is reason for believing that an association of unprincipled ambition and deluded inun has been formed for purpose hostile to the laws and peace of the united states and that they are now descending the river ohio and mississippi in considerable bodies with large quantities ot provisions and military stores and that new-orleans avill be the place of general rendezvous or perhaps attack in the first instance you will therefore in concert with the governor make evÂ«ry possible exertion in your power for de feating their views and for securing both men and stores ; specially iheir lenders the gun-hoats will receive orders bf this torlveyance to take post up the river hieemsbbsb-dprtntee theo-rrlrtof thw bu*>mm h id wn ihii mr rnox com olaintdtomoof ill una from general wil kimon and enquired what hep he ought to take it scoured tame at first to refer him to mr hay the di.triet attorney ; but on re flection i suppoied mr hay not the most uitabje person undtr present circumstances hit affidavit wm therefore taken by one of my counsel i believe knox thought the mode of proceeding wa fir him to make his complaint in pernon to the court mr wirt the reason of the role that af fidavit are admissible to be real at evirtence on motion i founded in esprdiency } uno th reason ceatiiig th nil oo k ht toceasc alfc so 1 lie enquiry then otijrnt to be whether it is miireek|mdjeatin this ca>e tomjketos bf the affidavits or of the witnesses them elves we wish to tome at the truth the counnel for aaron tturr we hop with t6 come amhe truth i know we do i we wi>h notliiiifi enveloped indarknen and mystery where awitne.si absent or i he lime of the court would be unnecessarily roniumed in his examination ilisespvdient to admit hi affidavit to be reac on motion or an attach ment or for a continuance t but expediency here denundva different course which it bett to establish facia t a written affidavit take " ex-parte or viÂ»a vote evidence i w hen an affidavit is introduced the qutuion it itr poftant was it written by the wilnes liinmejf or by anotlier person who received rrnrral directions from him in tliu case the latter course was puruied the witneÂ»se words were not put down but wnrdt written by persons under a particular bias is it likely that an ffkh?i colored by pausing through the mind or a prejudiced perton will be bet ter adapted to the discovery of truth than the witness liimsell ? mr bom taid that colonel burr had nh objection to examining the witnesses viva voce the chief jmtiet laid Â« the objection to reading the affidavit is not good in point of law t the reason of the rule that affidavits ar received on motions of this nature is to prtw vent the lime of the court frombchtr unneces sarily occupied % but that reason doc not at present apply j since the ourt u waiting for lÂ»e rraml jury and u not occupied with ci vil business he th*r**we rfrrecttd tbft withessrs to be examined viva voce mr at rat observed that as this was tnntioh of consequence to the respectable gei tleman general wiikin^nn whose character was attacked he wished hint to be present * that oeneral w was then before the grand jury and a short delay would enable him to b present tt wo possible facts of iomt moment were known to him and not to tho couniel and he might sugireÂ»t important question to the witncf.es mr m'rre also contended tbal witnesses otignt to ba exami ned on both sides that the whole truth might be known a dispute of some length ensued i th counsel for col burr contended that â€¢â– i this wat o.ily a motion for a rule to thetr csiise neither gen wilkinson nor his eoun sel otlght 10 be heard upÂ»nit that hereaf ter when he came to shew cause against is suing the attachment tie would be permitted * to exhibit evidence on hit part and to cross examine the witnesses against him | but not until then ; and the counsel for gen wn kinton arguing that the court ought to pit fer a full to a partial view of the evidence , that hi presence would aid the court in ask ing the proper questions ; and that aliho he and his counsel were not legally in court they had a right to be heard as omici curu that a to the right of introducing witnesses in his favor at this stage of the business jt was the practice where the party against whom an attachment was requested wa not present ; 16 * erve him with a rule to shew caiim but where he , was present with hi witnesses be had a right to shew cause im mediately in the end it was contented that the nso tion should be postponed till monday unless gen wilkinson's examination by the grand jury should be sooner finished the timrof the grand jury n friday and saturday wai entirely occupied in examining that gentfc . man trial of cal aaron burr oa wednesday m burr said he had se veral ffl liviti to piwj-ice t shew that im prujisr menu h ive been ned t contaminate the public jili'ice v;iii thjie proof have bte daly exhibited it will tie tne province 4>f the court to decide whether tllsy will not lay their handtupm such evidence mr ii alludert to nnnj of his letter bavin been hi th p3Â«t-Â«;tice by iei wilkinson and or u lu in evidence ai;iiu>t him thi ttu>>ject occasioned a graat deal of dejultary 4mmmt - , qii tk*rÂ»dÂ«jr the chief justice delivered a le[Â»*tsf opinion on vvillic case which was in favor of willie answering the ques tion propounded " l*h gentlemen of the bÂ»r added the jud<e w'll understand the fule uid i n by the coirt to be this i it it the province of the court lo judjje whether tÂ»fty dirÂ«ct siitwertu th question which may be prop itud will fnrnt-.li evij.nce agvmÂ«t he witness if inch answer may disclose a fact which fifm'4 anecrssary and essential link in he chain of testimony which would bs tui&ctcnt to convict him of any crime he not bound to answer it i as to famish mat her for thai conviction in such a case the wtnjjs mus bimtelf jii<l<e w'n-it his answer will be nl if he av n vh th'at he can â€¢ t answer without accusing himself he can a>t be com elu-il 10 i'Â»-.wer mr viliie wÂ»s tii^n inverro^stea respec ting the letter i:i cyphrr wliiclt he said was w-iitcn by mr burr it wm sent to the grand jury on friday mr burr stated that the ex press sent to wa-hintÂ»uin with the subpoena ducts tecum had returned to this city on wednesday last but had received no other titan verbal replv front the p of the u s i hat the-papers wanted would not be sent by i lira from which i have inferred said mr , i that he intends o send them in sortie o i her w*y tie info med the court ibat un ets he receiveil some satisfactory informa lion on hi ubjsct before the meeting of the sourt lie should to-morrow move the court lo enforce its process v r vbÂ«f counsel called up two witness 9 who hail drawn op depositions on which it ' was intented to ground the attachment a gainst ucn wilkinson for a contempt in obstructing the administration of the justice of this court mr hay interrupted the mo tion by intc for leave to send up the grand jury certain written interrogatories to be put to the witnesses this wat objected to and occasioned a debate which lasted all day saturday june 30 immediately nn the meeting of the court mr hay produced a letter to him from the president of the v states inclosing authen ticated copies of the orders issued from the departments of war si of the navy relative to the suppression of aaron uurr's conspiracy he observed that the court would recollect the former letter from the president mention d the circumstances of his having entrusted to mr rodney g neral wilkinson letter which eol burr now demands to be produced that the president had written to mr rod ney to revurn it that it might be furnished to the court ; but since that gentleman a jm understood had lately left wilmington in delaware on his way to the city of wash ington the president letter by the mail might have passed him on the road he jjoubted not however that at toon at powi t>1Â«i the letter in question would come lo hand tim president letter and the documents inf closed were received at hit rttw in part to the writ oftubpo*na duett item ami are at follow 1 1 washington jutu 17 hot in atisverinryotirteetterol the 9th which flevirert a communication of one to me from cen wilkinson specified by itt date i in farmed you in mine of the i jth that i had delivered it with all other papers respecting the charges against aaron burr to the atior tiy gene>al when he went to richmond that 1 hail suppled he had left them in your pot esÂ«i6n bin would immediately write to him ifhew not to forward that particular let ' tef without deuy wrote to him according ly on the ame day but having no answer i know nnt whether he has forwarded the let ter ' i stated in thetame letter that i had de â€¢ sired hie secretary at war to examine hit eemtorderloconmy with yoar further " eq>>e?st to furnish copies of the order which id beennwefi retfmcting aaron burr and ; and in a subsequent letter of inf%*tne'a*t - forwarded to you copies of â€¢ two fetter from the secretary at war which appeared to be within the detention express ed-itfyotir letter the order from the se cretarf of the navy you said you were in receipt of these paper had i presume aflftr anticipated and othert this day for ardeil will have substantially fulfilled the biect bf a subpxana from tho district court f ritlmsjod requiring that tnoie officer the artillery lately purchased from the french government will probably be aimed at as wvll a other military apparatus > in deed the capture of new-orleans and all public property at that place is presumed by many . to be the first object i am very respectfully sir your obedient servant signed 11 dearborn lt col cohstast ta xmi i certify that the within is a true copy from the record of the department of war given under my hand and the seal of the war office of the united states this t s seventaan h day of june one thousand eight hundred and seven h.dkaruorv secretary f war mr randolph proceeded to make his mo lion that a rule be made against gen wil kinson to shew cause wherefore an attach ment should not be awarded against him for a contempt of the court afer some preli minary observations he wa about to intro ducethe affidavits of james kn-ix and chand ler lindlley when mr hay objected to the reading of those affidavits on the ground that they had been written by the counsel of col burr ; though they might have been dictated by the witnesses he said he did not doubt that the gentlemen intended to act fairly and honorably on the occasion and had designed iy inserted nothing improperly hut hcÂ»u posed the courst of the business had been this ;â€” - thf witnesses went to col jiurr and told him their tale concerning general wil kinson : his counsel then drew their affida vits and delivered them to the witnesses to be sworn to he observed that where affida vits were thus taken they ought not to be re ceived in any case though the court was sa listed of the integrity and fairness of those by whom they were taken i and cited s term rep 403 in which it was decided that an af fidavit sworn to before the attorney of the par ty was not admissible i obieaing that here the objection was much stronger than in that case because these affidavits were not mere ly sworn tn before the counsel of the person on whose behalf they were exhibited but had been penned by them mr baker one of the counsel of colonel ! hurr declared that he wrote the affidavit if chandler lirtdsley at hi request that ih witness had brought him a paper written by himself as th kulxtance of his affidavit re ' questing him to draw it off lor the purpose of i putting it in proper form and correcting its | grammatical inaccuracies ; which he had sc ! cordingly done i mr m'rae observed therr was less difficul ty inthe objection berause the witnesses were bffore the court if they had been at a dis tance said he we would have waved it ; that it might not sefrrl that we feared their albda vlts or wished to keep their testimony from being heard the truth is we have no such fear i we wish nothing tn be concealed ? but as the witnesses are here we in-iat on their being examined openly before the court ; on the very ground of-the objection made hv the counsel of aaron btirr to affidavits offered by us there although the witnesses whose affidavits were offered were at a great dis tance they insisted that they should not be read and called upon us to produce the per sons them e!ve here no good reason can be given for reading these affidavits ; since the witnesses are preient and if the gentle men wish the whole truth to come out they will consent to the proposal of examining them viva voce i certify that the annexed is a tnie ropy from the records in the office of the depart ment of the navy of the united states of the letter from the secretary of the navy to rapt john shaw dated 20th december ieoc in faith whereof i robert smith se cretary of the navy of the u states of america have signed these pre sents and caused the seal of my office t f .) if be affixed hereto at the city of washington this 17th day of june anno domini iftor and in the 4 1st year of the independence of the said state i rtt smith registered secrttarj j th jfavjr c w goiÂ»jbobooÂ«h chief clerk n di copy kmj department itt h dee 1808 a military expedition formed on the western waters by col burr will soon pro ceed down the mississippi and by the time you receive this letter will probably lie near new-orleans you will by all the mesns in your power aid the army and militia in sup pressing this enterpiize you will with your boat take the best position to intercept and to take and icnecessary to destroy the bsmta descending under the command of col butt or of any person holding an appointment uji der him there is great reliance on your ti gilanco and exertions i have the honor to be sir yottr most obedient servant stsnedl kt.smith capt tobn shaw of the ctmmanding naval officer at 2ftv>-0rtmnt monday jtirfe s3 mr randolph desired james k nox to bo calicd ar.d said he was ready to ptsumdin his metion mr m-kat wished the motion to 4j fuiiher postnnned a gen wilkttton . was still engaged in giving his testimony to lh grand jury mr botts objetted to â– farther postpone mem i laying ibat a spirft of ccnrimoda tion on that part had subjected them to great inconvenience from detay t>Â«t it was a i hsrdahij on col burr ; s(td therefore he thought-it fair to retract the consent he ha4 given on saturday ; that perhaps tlicy might , be delayed three or four days in waiting for qen wilkinson's dischsfge fram tfae grand ! jury that after ms examination.was-finith | ed the grand jnry would pi>6h,aÂ»ly soon make 1 their report ; if " ft true buc should be the â€¢ finding col burr woum not wiiu to be kept mr wickham made several observations Â« gainst the proposal : the most important of which were that the usuul practice on colla teral motions such a rules to shew cause for continuance and for attachments is to exhibit affidavits in writing instead of exa mining witnesses viva vjcc ; and that hose assdavll are generally written under the dl rections of the witneises by the agent of the party on whose behalf they are taken magis trates not being willing to submit to the drudgery ; and witnesses frequently too ig norant to do it themselves _ col burr stid it would be agreeable to mm if t>Â«e witnesses were examined in open court 4 but that he had thought it would have been disrespectful to the court to vary frtia

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the wilmington gazette published very tuesday by allmand hall at three do&rrj a yetf payable in ftdvawe or four dollar if not paid within ft yeat and myself should attend the court in rich mond with the letter of gen wilkinson the answer to that letter and the orders f the departments of war and the navy therein ge nerally described no answer to general wilkinson's letter other than a mere ac knowledgment of it receipt in a letter writ teu for a ditferent purpose was ever written by myself or any other to these control nicationt of papers i will add that if the d femlant supposes there Â» re any fact within the knowledge of the heads of deptrtfflentl or of myself which can be useful for his de fence from a desire of doing any thing our situation will permit in furtherance of justice we shall be ready ogive him the benefit old by way of debamtiont through ay pertom whom tie court shall authorise to take o lestinaony at this place i know indeed mr hay that tbis cannot be done butlty consent of parties and t therefore authorise you to tfive consent on thepartoftheuniteid slates mr burr's consent wii be glvtn of course if he supposes the testimony useful as to our personal attendance at richmond i am persuaded the court is sensible that pa ramount duties to the national urge controul the obligation of compliance with their sum mons in tlm case a they would should we receive a similar one to attend the trials of blann'erhasiet and others in the mississippi territory those instituted at st louis and other places on the western waters or st a ny place other than the seat of government to comply witb such catls would leave the nation without an executive branch whbse agency nevertheless is understood to be so constantly necessary that it is the sole'btanch which the constitution require to be always in function it could not then mean that it should be withdrawn from its station by any co-ordinate authority with respect to pa pers there i certainly a public an private side to our officers to the former belong grants of land patents for inventions cer tain commission proclamations snd bthcr papers patent in their nature to the other belong mere executive proceedings all na lions have found it necestsry thai for the advantageous conduct of their affairs some of these proceedings at least should remain known to their executive functionary only heofeourie from the nature of th case mult be the sots ndg of which of them b puhlic interest will permit publication hence under our constitution in requests of papers fiom the legislative to the execu live branch an exception is carefull express ed as to those which he may deem the public welfare may require not to be disclosed aa jrau wili see in the incloted resolution of the house of representatives which produced the message of jan 22 ; respecting this case the respect mutually due between the con stituted authorities in their official inter course a well a sincere disposition to do fnr every one what i just will al way ensure from the executive in exercising the duty of discrimination confided to him the same can dor and integrity to which the nation has in â– like manner trusted in the disposal of its ju j diciary authorities considering you as the organ for communicating these teniimtnls to the court i address them to you for that purpose and salute you with esteem and respect . jeffersonj " war depmrtmem dec 20 1809 m sir " there is reason for believing that an association of unprincipled ambition and deluded inun has been formed for purpose hostile to the laws and peace of the united states and that they are now descending the river ohio and mississippi in considerable bodies with large quantities ot provisions and military stores and that new-orleans avill be the place of general rendezvous or perhaps attack in the first instance you will therefore in concert with the governor make evÂ«ry possible exertion in your power for de feating their views and for securing both men and stores ; specially iheir lenders the gun-hoats will receive orders bf this torlveyance to take post up the river hieemsbbsb-dprtntee theo-rrlrtof thw bu*>mm h id wn ihii mr rnox com olaintdtomoof ill una from general wil kimon and enquired what hep he ought to take it scoured tame at first to refer him to mr hay the di.triet attorney ; but on re flection i suppoied mr hay not the most uitabje person undtr present circumstances hit affidavit wm therefore taken by one of my counsel i believe knox thought the mode of proceeding wa fir him to make his complaint in pernon to the court mr wirt the reason of the role that af fidavit are admissible to be real at evirtence on motion i founded in esprdiency } uno th reason ceatiiig th nil oo k ht toceasc alfc so 1 lie enquiry then otijrnt to be whether it is miireek|mdjeatin this ca>e tomjketos bf the affidavits or of the witnesses them elves we wish to tome at the truth the counnel for aaron tturr we hop with t6 come amhe truth i know we do i we wi>h notliiiifi enveloped indarknen and mystery where awitne.si absent or i he lime of the court would be unnecessarily roniumed in his examination ilisespvdient to admit hi affidavit to be reac on motion or an attach ment or for a continuance t but expediency here denundva different course which it bett to establish facia t a written affidavit take " ex-parte or viÂ»a vote evidence i w hen an affidavit is introduced the qutuion it itr poftant was it written by the wilnes liinmejf or by anotlier person who received rrnrral directions from him in tliu case the latter course was puruied the witneÂ»se words were not put down but wnrdt written by persons under a particular bias is it likely that an ffkh?i colored by pausing through the mind or a prejudiced perton will be bet ter adapted to the discovery of truth than the witness liimsell ? mr bom taid that colonel burr had nh objection to examining the witnesses viva voce the chief jmtiet laid Â« the objection to reading the affidavit is not good in point of law t the reason of the rule that affidavits ar received on motions of this nature is to prtw vent the lime of the court frombchtr unneces sarily occupied % but that reason doc not at present apply j since the ourt u waiting for lÂ»e rraml jury and u not occupied with ci vil business he th*r**we rfrrecttd tbft withessrs to be examined viva voce mr at rat observed that as this was tnntioh of consequence to the respectable gei tleman general wiikin^nn whose character was attacked he wished hint to be present * that oeneral w was then before the grand jury and a short delay would enable him to b present tt wo possible facts of iomt moment were known to him and not to tho couniel and he might sugireÂ»t important question to the witncf.es mr m'rre also contended tbal witnesses otignt to ba exami ned on both sides that the whole truth might be known a dispute of some length ensued i th counsel for col burr contended that â€¢â– i this wat o.ily a motion for a rule to thetr csiise neither gen wilkinson nor his eoun sel otlght 10 be heard upÂ»nit that hereaf ter when he came to shew cause against is suing the attachment tie would be permitted * to exhibit evidence on hit part and to cross examine the witnesses against him | but not until then ; and the counsel for gen wn kinton arguing that the court ought to pit fer a full to a partial view of the evidence , that hi presence would aid the court in ask ing the proper questions ; and that aliho he and his counsel were not legally in court they had a right to be heard as omici curu that a to the right of introducing witnesses in his favor at this stage of the business jt was the practice where the party against whom an attachment was requested wa not present ; 16 * erve him with a rule to shew caiim but where he , was present with hi witnesses be had a right to shew cause im mediately in the end it was contented that the nso tion should be postponed till monday unless gen wilkinson's examination by the grand jury should be sooner finished the timrof the grand jury n friday and saturday wai entirely occupied in examining that gentfc . man trial of cal aaron burr oa wednesday m burr said he had se veral ffl liviti to piwj-ice t shew that im prujisr menu h ive been ned t contaminate the public jili'ice v;iii thjie proof have bte daly exhibited it will tie tne province 4>f the court to decide whether tllsy will not lay their handtupm such evidence mr ii alludert to nnnj of his letter bavin been hi th p3Â«t-Â«;tice by iei wilkinson and or u lu in evidence ai;iiu>t him thi ttu>>ject occasioned a graat deal of dejultary 4mmmt - , qii tk*rÂ»dÂ«jr the chief justice delivered a le[Â»*tsf opinion on vvillic case which was in favor of willie answering the ques tion propounded " l*h gentlemen of the bÂ»r added the judt be com elu-il 10 i'Â»-.wer mr viliie wÂ»s tii^n inverro^stea respec ting the letter i:i cyphrr wliiclt he said was w-iitcn by mr burr it wm sent to the grand jury on friday mr burr stated that the ex press sent to wa-hintÂ»uin with the subpoena ducts tecum had returned to this city on wednesday last but had received no other titan verbal replv front the p of the u s i hat the-papers wanted would not be sent by i lira from which i have inferred said mr , i that he intends o send them in sortie o i her w*y tie info med the court ibat un ets he receiveil some satisfactory informa lion on hi ubjsct before the meeting of the sourt lie should to-morrow move the court lo enforce its process v r vbÂ«f counsel called up two witness 9 who hail drawn op depositions on which it ' was intented to ground the attachment a gainst ucn wilkinson for a contempt in obstructing the administration of the justice of this court mr hay interrupted the mo tion by intc for leave to send up the grand jury certain written interrogatories to be put to the witnesses this wat objected to and occasioned a debate which lasted all day saturday june 30 immediately nn the meeting of the court mr hay produced a letter to him from the president of the v states inclosing authen ticated copies of the orders issued from the departments of war si of the navy relative to the suppression of aaron uurr's conspiracy he observed that the court would recollect the former letter from the president mention d the circumstances of his having entrusted to mr rodney g neral wilkinson letter which eol burr now demands to be produced that the president had written to mr rod ney to revurn it that it might be furnished to the court ; but since that gentleman a jm understood had lately left wilmington in delaware on his way to the city of wash ington the president letter by the mail might have passed him on the road he jjoubted not however that at toon at powi t>1Â«i the letter in question would come lo hand tim president letter and the documents inf closed were received at hit rttw in part to the writ oftubpo*na duett item ami are at follow 1 1 washington jutu 17 hot in atisverinryotirteetterol the 9th which flevirert a communication of one to me from cen wilkinson specified by itt date i in farmed you in mine of the i jth that i had delivered it with all other papers respecting the charges against aaron burr to the atior tiy gene>al when he went to richmond that 1 hail suppled he had left them in your pot esÂ«i6n bin would immediately write to him ifhew not to forward that particular let ' tef without deuy wrote to him according ly on the ame day but having no answer i know nnt whether he has forwarded the let ter ' i stated in thetame letter that i had de â€¢ sired hie secretary at war to examine hit eemtorderloconmy with yoar further " eq>>e?st to furnish copies of the order which id beennwefi retfmcting aaron burr and ; and in a subsequent letter of inf%*tne'a*t - forwarded to you copies of â€¢ two fetter from the secretary at war which appeared to be within the detention express ed-itfyotir letter the order from the se cretarf of the navy you said you were in receipt of these paper had i presume aflftr anticipated and othert this day for ardeil will have substantially fulfilled the biect bf a subpxana from tho district court f ritlmsjod requiring that tnoie officer the artillery lately purchased from the french government will probably be aimed at as wvll a other military apparatus > in deed the capture of new-orleans and all public property at that place is presumed by many . to be the first object i am very respectfully sir your obedient servant signed 11 dearborn lt col cohstast ta xmi i certify that the within is a true copy from the record of the department of war given under my hand and the seal of the war office of the united states this t s seventaan h day of june one thousand eight hundred and seven h.dkaruorv secretary f war mr randolph proceeded to make his mo lion that a rule be made against gen wil kinson to shew cause wherefore an attach ment should not be awarded against him for a contempt of the court afer some preli minary observations he wa about to intro ducethe affidavits of james kn-ix and chand ler lindlley when mr hay objected to the reading of those affidavits on the ground that they had been written by the counsel of col burr ; though they might have been dictated by the witnesses he said he did not doubt that the gentlemen intended to act fairly and honorably on the occasion and had designed iy inserted nothing improperly hut hcÂ»u posed the courst of the business had been this ;â€” - thf witnesses went to col jiurr and told him their tale concerning general wil kinson : his counsel then drew their affida vits and delivered them to the witnesses to be sworn to he observed that where affida vits were thus taken they ought not to be re ceived in any case though the court was sa listed of the integrity and fairness of those by whom they were taken i and cited s term rep 403 in which it was decided that an af fidavit sworn to before the attorney of the par ty was not admissible i obieaing that here the objection was much stronger than in that case because these affidavits were not mere ly sworn tn before the counsel of the person on whose behalf they were exhibited but had been penned by them mr baker one of the counsel of colonel ! hurr declared that he wrote the affidavit if chandler lirtdsley at hi request that ih witness had brought him a paper written by himself as th kulxtance of his affidavit re ' questing him to draw it off lor the purpose of i putting it in proper form and correcting its | grammatical inaccuracies ; which he had sc ! cordingly done i mr m'rae observed therr was less difficul ty inthe objection berause the witnesses were bffore the court if they had been at a dis tance said he we would have waved it ; that it might not sefrrl that we feared their albda vlts or wished to keep their testimony from being heard the truth is we have no such fear i we wish nothing tn be concealed ? but as the witnesses are here we in-iat on their being examined openly before the court ; on the very ground of-the objection made hv the counsel of aaron btirr to affidavits offered by us there although the witnesses whose affidavits were offered were at a great dis tance they insisted that they should not be read and called upon us to produce the per sons them e!ve here no good reason can be given for reading these affidavits ; since the witnesses are preient and if the gentle men wish the whole truth to come out they will consent to the proposal of examining them viva voce i certify that the annexed is a tnie ropy from the records in the office of the depart ment of the navy of the united states of the letter from the secretary of the navy to rapt john shaw dated 20th december ieoc in faith whereof i robert smith se cretary of the navy of the u states of america have signed these pre sents and caused the seal of my office t f .) if be affixed hereto at the city of washington this 17th day of june anno domini iftor and in the 4 1st year of the independence of the said state i rtt smith registered secrttarj j th jfavjr c w goiÂ»jbobooÂ«h chief clerk n di copy kmj department itt h dee 1808 a military expedition formed on the western waters by col burr will soon pro ceed down the mississippi and by the time you receive this letter will probably lie near new-orleans you will by all the mesns in your power aid the army and militia in sup pressing this enterpiize you will with your boat take the best position to intercept and to take and icnecessary to destroy the bsmta descending under the command of col butt or of any person holding an appointment uji der him there is great reliance on your ti gilanco and exertions i have the honor to be sir yottr most obedient servant stsnedl kt.smith capt tobn shaw of the ctmmanding naval officer at 2ftv>-0rtmnt monday jtirfe s3 mr randolph desired james k nox to bo calicd ar.d said he was ready to ptsumdin his metion mr m-kat wished the motion to 4j fuiiher postnnned a gen wilkttton . was still engaged in giving his testimony to lh grand jury mr botts objetted to â– farther postpone mem i laying ibat a spirft of ccnrimoda tion on that part had subjected them to great inconvenience from detay t>Â«t it was a i hsrdahij on col burr ; s(td therefore he thought-it fair to retract the consent he ha4 given on saturday ; that perhaps tlicy might , be delayed three or four days in waiting for qen wilkinson's dischsfge fram tfae grand ! jury that after ms examination.was-finith | ed the grand jnry would pi>6h,aÂ»ly soon make 1 their report ; if " ft true buc should be the â€¢ finding col burr woum not wiiu to be kept mr wickham made several observations Â« gainst the proposal : the most important of which were that the usuul practice on colla teral motions such a rules to shew cause for continuance and for attachments is to exhibit affidavits in writing instead of exa mining witnesses viva vjcc ; and that hose assdavll are generally written under the dl rections of the witneises by the agent of the party on whose behalf they are taken magis trates not being willing to submit to the drudgery ; and witnesses frequently too ig norant to do it themselves _ col burr stid it would be agreeable to mm if t>Â«e witnesses were examined in open court 4 but that he had thought it would have been disrespectful to the court to vary frtia